A strong company culture inspires teamwork, unity, and friendly competition. It installs the ‘at your service’ attitude throughout a company’s ranks and improves communication between the top management and lower-level employees. Entrepreneurs who want to improve their company’s culture need to start this process with one simple question: ‘If this wasn’t my company, would I want to work here?’
The realistic answer to this question will tell them everything they need to know about your company’s culture. If the answer is yes, entrepreneurs should congratulate themselves and continue with their great work. If the answer is no, they need to implement measures that will improve their workplace and business performance in the long run. Here are some of the solutions that can be used to create a positive company culture:
RECOGNIZING EMPLOYEES’ ACHIEVEMENTS
Top management needs to let employees know how important they are for the company’s business operation. Employees with meaningless roles will soon start looking for another job. That is why the acknowledgment of their milestones and achievements is a perfect solution for decreasing employee turnover.
MAKING MEETINGS MORE FUN
Some managers use meetings to criticize and undermine their employees, which is a very bad practice. Employees should look forward to the meetings of their department. Entrepreneurs can make meetings more fun by providing food and refreshments, and managers should initiate interesting discussions and include even the low-level employees in the management’s brainstorming sessions.
USING TECH TO IMPROVE COMPANY CULTURE
Most companies use their social media pages to advertise their products and services. Social networks can also be used for introducing company culture improvements. Entrepreneurs should connect with their employees, share photos from work and team-building events on social media pages, tag employees, and motivate them to like and comment on these posts. Social media also helps the team stay connected during the summer vacation, and by sharing photos and videos from a company’s team-building events, employees become the best brand advocates. There are many other tech solutions that can improve employees’ productivity and engagement. For example, the time attendance system has improved productivity in many startups, making their teams more organized and united.
EQUIP A SPECIAL CHILL-OUT ZONE
A chill-out zone is a very important element of the office environment. Since most office employees sit for extended periods of time, they need a comfortable sofa or a bed to lie down for a moment and collect their thoughts. Chill-out zones can also be equipped with fun board games, exercise equipment, and various other amenities used for stress relief. Here are some of the suggestions:
- Drum set;
- Pinball machine;
- PlayStation console;
- Jukebox.
TEAM BUILDING ACTIVITIES
A company culture can be improved by introducing in-office team-building sessions and company excursions. Every employee needs an escape from work now or then, and team-building excursions are the thing they will look forward to. Team building excursions usually feature various competitive activities. Their purpose is to improve a team’s communication and strengthen employee bonds. Still, if rafting or paintball is too expensive, companies or departments can also go hiking, or visit the local beaches, football games, or go clubbing.
GAMIFICATION OF THE WORK PROCESS
People love games. Many companies use this method to make their employees more positively competitive. Gamification is a powerful concept. It provides awards for the best employees, but it does not single them out from their teams. Instead, gamification requires employees to work together and reach certain goals. It also motivates talented employees to share their knowledge and help their colleagues.
GET CRAZY!
Many companies go a step further to promote good company culture. For example, these guys shot a spoof of Pharrell’s “Happy” video. Although this is not one of the solutions for company culture improvement that you will find in HR textbooks, we can see that employees had fun while shooting these scenes. In addition to the fun time they’ve had, employees also can share the video on their social media timelines and show their dance moves to family and friends.
TEAM SPIRIT ALL THE WAY
Positive company culture improves a company’s business in many different ways. It helps employees to achieve better work-life balance and decrease the levels of work-related stress. That is why company culture improvement is a joint effort that requires the participation of every member of the team.
